Mercosur

• Thursday, November 22nd 2012 - 14:50 UTC

  Argentina’s outbursts backfire: Judge Griesa orders payment to holdout bond investors

  

  Argentina suffered a stinging blow late Wednesday when New York federal judge Thomas Griesa, citing threats by the country's leaders to defy his rulings in a decade-old dispute over defaulted sovereign bonds, ordered immediate payment.

• Thursday, November 22nd 2012 - 13:55 UTC

  Bolivia formally invited to join Mercosur as full member at December’s summit

  

  Bolivia was formally invited to join Mercosur as a full member for which negotiations can begin in the coming summit December 7 in Brasilia. The invitation was made official by Mercosur High Commissioner Ivan Ramalho during a visit to La Paz where the met with Foreign minister David Choquehuanca and Economy and Planning ministers Luis Arce and Viviana Caro.

• Tuesday, November 20th 2012 - 00:51 UTC

  Peruvian ambassador expected to return to Paraguay in near future

  

  Another gap is anticipated in the diplomatic isolation ring imposed on Paraguay by Unasur and Mercosur, when as happened with Chile and Colombia, the Peruvian ambassador also returns to his post in Asuncion after several months of consultations in Lima.

• Saturday, November 17th 2012 - 22:53 UTC

  Mercosur condemns “disproportionate use of force” in Gaza; calls for immediate cease fire

  

  Mercosur condemned the “disproportionate use of force” in Gaza and called on Israel and Palestinians for an immediate cease fire of the conflict that has already left al least forty people killed, mostly civilians.

• Friday, November 16th 2012 - 06:11 UTC

  Rajoy would have liked Cristina Fernandez to have attended the summit

  

  Spanish President Mariano Rajoy stated that he “would have liked” his Argentine counterpart, President Cristina Fernández to have attended the XXIIth Ibero-American summit, starting Friday in Cádiz.

• Thursday, November 15th 2012 - 19:00 UTC

  Uruguayan industry criticizes imports policy, labour costs and Mercosur

  

  Uruguay’ Chamber of Industries, CIU, criticized the ‘indiscriminate’ influx of foreign goods, labour costs and Mercosur, and called on government to change the focus of its policies towards manufacturing underscoring that the domestic market represents 55% of industries’ GDP.

• Thursday, November 15th 2012 - 02:08 UTC

  Uruguayan populist president Jose Mujica, as described by BBC

  

  It's a common grumble that politicians' lifestyles are far removed from those of their electorate. Not so in Uruguay. Meet the president - who lives on a ramshackle farm and gives away most of his pay.

• Tuesday, November 13th 2012 - 20:51 UTC

  Latam rapidly turning into middle class continent, says World Bank

  

  A World Bank report released Tuesday found that Latin America and the Caribbean registered a 50% jump in the number of people joining the middle class during the last decade, which was called by economists an historic achievement for a region long exposed to wealth inequality.

• Tuesday, November 13th 2012 - 03:35 UTC

  Despite Unasur, Colombia and Chile ambassadors are back in Paraguay

  

  Colombia and Chile ambassadors returned to Paraguay on Sunday after six months absence, the first two members from Unasur in doing so and in practical terms breaking the isolation imposed on the landlocked country following the political crisis which removed Fernando Lugo and had him replaced by current president Federico Franco.

• Monday, November 12th 2012 - 21:57 UTC

  Ban Ki-moon and colonialism: people should be able to decide their own future

  

  Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said UK is not violating relevant UN resolutions referred to the Falklands’ and more specifically on colonialism, he argued that a prevailing impression is that “people living under certain conditions should have a certain level of capacities so that they can decide their own future”, be it independence or some kind of government in their territories.